Delusional
by Smiling Psycho
Summary: Rikumi lives in the village of Konohagakure. But when the opportunity arises to visit her birthplace, Sunagakure, she just can't refuse. There is too much she wants to find out about her past, or, more importantly, her father. But in her searches, there may be others she must save. As the wheel of fate turns, jealousy may enter the game.
1. Chapter 1

This is a Naruto story based in a modernized version of the anime world.

...

Rikumi, just another girl. She sat on a faded wooden bench, sipping out of her pump bottle as she watched her spar-mates train. The old wooden floor of the Ju-jitsu dojo creaked in protest with every body forced to the floor. Grey support pillars lined the dirty white walls and the wooden carved roof beams stretched out across the ceiling. Rikumi looked down at the various names carved into the wooden bench she sat on. Some names she recognised, some names were of students long before her time.

"Riku," her instructor, Gai, called her over with a wave.

Rikumi sighed in exhaustion and slapped the lid on her water bottle down before trotting over to her teacher. "Yes, Gai-sensei?"

Gai gestured out over the group sitting in front of him in the appropriate legs-tucked-with-fists-on-ground position. "Duel with these youngsters, won't you?"

Rikumi inspected the group before her. Around twelve kids, all of ages between nine and eleven. Their headbands were unmarked, meaning still of beginner level. She pointed to the oldest looking child, a brown-haired boy wearing a scarf and called him up. "You, what's your name?" She asked.

The boy stood and bowed to his superior. "Konohamaru," he announced, sounding confident and ready to accept a challenge.

"Well, Konohamaru, my name is Rikumi," She could not help but break out into a grin, "Show me what you've got." Rikumi took a step back and steadied her stance, bringing her fists up under her chin in ready anticipation for the child's attacks. Her own headband reflected the light of the low-hanging bulbs. Konohamaru came at her with his fist drawn back, chin tucked down and propelled his arm foreword for a direct blow to the head. Rikumi ducked down, leant to the side and started to spin lightning fast. As her ankles reached their turning limit, she slammed her right hand down into the ground and kicked her left leg out, knocking Konohamaru's feet out from under him as she completed the three-sixty turn in under three seconds. Konohamaru crashed to the ground just as Rikumi found her feet and sprung up-right. Gasps were heard from the watching beginners, which only fuelled the frustrated spark in Konohamaru's eyes as he rolled onto his stomach and from there onto his feet. He sent a questioning look at Rikumi, wondering why she hadn't pinned him there and declared the match over. Rikumi just smiled and instructed, "Again."

...

Kakashi watched the students out the window of the small office on the far side of the dojo.

The place had originally been built as a Ju-jitsu dojo, but that purpose had been lost before his time. Now it was used to train the enthusiastic students of Konohagakures high-school. Students who's parents served in the military often sent their children to train with the veterans. The children learnt self-defence, fist-fighting, theoretical war planning and weapon skills.

His gaze fell upon some of the younger students, as one of the genin, Rikumi, took over for Gai as a duel partner. He watched Gai make his way over to the office and immediately turned to him as he entered. "Gai, I have news."

"Hm? What kind of news, Kakashi?" Gai asked, closing the door behind him and looking out over the training students. His eyes shone with that contentment he always gained when training the younger generation of fighters.

"Hiruzen has organized to exchange transfer students with Suna," Kakashi looked at the report that lay on his desk, marking the details of the transfer. He was to choose two of his best genin, whom are willing, to send over, and be prepared to receive two genin in return for a period of two months.

Gai raised one of his bushy eyebrows in Kakashi's direction. "Really? That's fantastic!" He cheered.

Kakashi knew Gai would be enthusiastic about the idea, but the concept of sending a couple of his precious students to another land didn't sit well with him at all. They would be in completely unfamiliar territory, and Suna was not exactly the friendliest of lands. His attention snapped back to Gai as he found the report on the cluttered desk.

Gai nodded his head slowly and looked over at Kakashi after briefly scanning the papers. "So you want me to ask around?" He asked.

Kakashi nodded. "Yes, try to send some of the stronger genin over if you can. They leave in a week." Gai nodded and left to call the genin. Kakashi just hoped that the principal, Hiruzen, knew what he was doing.

...

Rikumi released the wrist of the youngster, by the name of Moegi, and watched her bow and sit on the mat again. "You're all doing very well. Udon, you need to learn to kick higher. Toku, work on your one-legged balance. Hinto-"

"Riku!"

Rikumi was cut short at her name being called. She turned to see Naruto waving her over to where the 13 genin were gathering. She muttered a quick, "Be right back," to the kids and ran to join her comrades. "Hey, what's going on?" She asked Naruto.

"Gai-sensei called us all over, some kind of big excursion or something," Naruto explained, obviously excited with the idea. Rikumi smiled, it had been a while since the genin had been invited on anything exciting.

"Okay! Everybody calm down!" Gai called over the murmuring voices. "I have an exciting announcement." Gai paused to allow silence to settle over the group before continuing. "Hiruzen has made a transfer agreement with Sunagakure. Two of you will be sent over to experience the kinds of training and structure of Suna." The genin instantly burst out in a babble of questions.

"How long?" asked Naruto.

"When do we leave?" That was Kiba.

"How are we getting there?" Ino asked.

Most of the other questions drowned each other out, and Gai held up a hand, palm out, for silence. When everyone was silent, he spoke. "Only two of you can go. It will be in a week, for two months. So, volunteers?" There was a show of hands, Rikumi's included. Gai grinned with pride at his students determination and reached down the the bench at the wall behind him, picking up a red clipboard with a few sheets of paper on it. He unclipped a pen from the top and clicked it open, scribbling down something, presumably names, on the paper. Everyone was dismissed.

...

Rikumi stretched and let loose a yawn as she headed for home. If she could go to the sand village, well, actually she didn't know what would happen. But, whatever it was, it would be exciting. She looked at the view of the setting sun and heard her footsteps tapping rhythmically on the cement paving of the footpath. Her mind was on auto-pilot as she pondered the ups and downs of going to the sand.

Eventually, Rikumi arrived at her house, walking up the three steps and kicking her shoes off as she opened the front door and stepped inside. "Mother! Miko! I'm home!" She called.

"Sis!" Young Miko, dark hair bouncing and green eyes shining as he practically leaped down the stairs. "Guess what?! Go on! Guess!"

"Um… I suck at guessing games?" Rikumi smirked.

"Well, yes, that too. But that's not what I meant!" Miko laughed. "Alright, I'll tell you. I got accepted into the dojo!"

Rikumi smiled and ruffled her little brother's hair. "What did I tell you? Of course you did."

Miko nodded and turned to face the door leading through to the kitchen as the two heard their mother's call.

"Riku? How was school?" She called.

Rikumi smiled and held her fist out to her brother, who bumped it with his own, before she made her way through to the kitchen. She felt any tension left in her muscules fade away as the scent of her mother's homemade ramen soup filled her nose. Her mother looked over at her with the same intelligant green eyes her brother had. Those eyes were a trait that Rikumi had failed to obtain. She had her father's stormy grey eyes, but, like her mother and brother, she had inherited the dark hair colouring. Miko was by far the tanest skin of the family, which was probably due to all the time he spent outside with his friends.

"I hope you're hungry, I made a double batch," Mother, Kimi, said with a smile. When Mother made double batches, it was all they would eat for days, sometimes weeks.

"Mother, I have something to ask," Rikumi announced as she settled in at the table, just a few feet way.

"What is it?" Mother asked curiously as she continued stirring her massive pot.

"Guy-sensei announced that a couple genin could go to Sunagakure.. and I was hoping to be picked," Rikumi said, trailing off. She had not thought this through at all.

Mother almost dropped her pot in shock as she stared at her daughter with wide eyes. "Sunagakure?! Rikumi, have you lost your senses? You are not going!"

"Mother, please? I won't be hurt, I'll have a friend with me. And the kazekage knows that it's the villages' alliance at stake. Do you really think he would allow anything to happen?" Rikumi tried to explain. She knew how her mother felt about that village. Rikumi had actually been born there. The area they had lived in had been attacked, and no matter how they screamed, none of the other villagers came to their assistance. The sand village was very much an every-man-for-himself village, and that lead to dominance issues between the people. There was always a fight of some sort happening, usually between drunks.

"Riku, why are you so eager to go? I don't see any reason you would want to-"

Rikumi cut her mother short. "Because I want to see it. Don't get me wrong, I remember perfectly well what the village is like, but that was from the perspective of a child! I want to see how it's changed… I want to see their training techniques and workings. I just want to see."

Mother leveled her gaze at Rikumi for a moment, before turning back to stirring her pot. "Very well, if you're chosen, you may go," she said quietly.

Rikumi's eyes lit up and she sprang up from her chair to hug her mother tightly. "Thank you! Thank you so much!"

Mother patted Rikumi's arm with a soft smile. "Just promise you'll be careful? And avoid any shady figures."

Rikumi resisted the urge to roll her eyes at the classic motherly warnings. She just smiled and said, "Of course." All that was stopping her now was the possibility of not being chosen.


	2. Chapter 2

The bell rang, and by the time everyone was standing to leave class, Rikumi was already pounding out the door. She wound her way through various bodies, occasionally muttering and apology as she bumped into someone. Soon, the hallway was packed and Rikumi fought to get to the school's front door. After what seemed like an eternity, she reached it and burst out into the open air, a refreshing change from the thick clouds of deodorant and zit cream that filled the hall of the high school. As Rikumi began the decent of the stairs, someone's shoulder slammed into her and she went tumbling foreward. She only had time to fling her hands out towards the ground in an attempt to catch herself before she hit the stairs, twisted her arm at some unnatural angle, and toppled down to the base. There were not many stairs, lucky for her, but it was enough to cause some decent bruises, and she was sure her wrist was twisted. Rikumi grunted and pulled herself into a sitting position, brushing the dust off her wrinkled T-shirt.

"Riku? Are you alright?" Rikumi's head spun around to see one of her classmates, TenTen, offering her a hand with a concerned look. Standing behind Tenten was Sakura Haruno, another classmate.

"Uh, yeah, I'm good, just took a bit of a tumble. Some idiot shoving down the stairs," Rikumi explained, accepting Tenten's hand as she got to her feet.

"You weren't really doing much better," Sakura pointed out with a giggle. "We saw you practically flying out the classroom."

Rikumi gave a guilty chuckle. "Yeah, I just really want to get to the dojo and see if I got into Suna, you know?"

Sakura shrugged, "I wasn't really all that interested in Suna. But Tenten wants to go."

Tenten nodded enthusiastically. "Absolutely, I hear they have a brilliant weapon industry. I could learn a few things." Rikumi smirked. Tenten always got top marks in the weapon side of dojo training. She just had a natural ability for it.

"Let's get going, we're going to miss the bus," Sakura urged. "Are you sure you're alright, Rikumi?"

"Call me Riku, and yes, I'm fine. I think it's just a twisted wrist," Rikumi confirmed. She tested her wrist and winced at the purple and blue bruises already starting to show through. "I'll be alright, although looks like my kicks are going to get some good practice today." She laughed and began walking down the street to the bus stop. The school was set in the centre of town, so crossing the road was challenge, but the students managed okay. The double lanes of Main Street were often so full of traffic that you could just walk between the slow moving cars. The three girls got across without issue, and reached the stop just minutes before the bus pulled in with a screech of breaks. Students piled on, some already in their more comfortable, stretchy clothes that they would wear to the dojo.

Tenten and Sakura found seats together, while Rikumi wandered until she finally found a free seat next to Shino Aburame. "Hey, Shino, how you going?" Rikumi greeted him with a small wave. Shino was still dressed in his school uniform and was loosening his tie as he responded.

"I'm fine, Rikumi. What about you?"

"Excited. I wonder who gets to go to Suna. And call me Riku," She said, adding the last part as an afterthought.

"Well, I sure wanna go."

Rikumi raised an eyebrow at the new voice intruding on the conversation. She leant foreward and turned in her chair to see Kiba Inuzuka sitting directly behind her, his arms folded across the back of her chair. His confident grin said that he had every intention of going. Hinata sat next to him, on the window side. She gave Rikumi a small wave, which she returned. "If you do end up going, what would you do there, Kiba?" Rikumi asked, curious as to what a guy like Kiba would be so interesting in.

"I wanna look around. You know, check out how they do things," Kiba responded, as if it were obvious. He rested his chin on his arms as he absent mindedly scanned the passing buildings.

"The desert's too hot for me, I'd rather stay here," Hinata said in that quiet, shy voice she always seemed to have. Rikumi wondered what she would sound like if she were more confident.

"Eh, heat is heat, I can deal," Kiba said, trying not to seem too smug.

Rikumi laughed. "You say that now, but it is a desert. And you gotta cover up pretty well." She was speaking form experience of course.

Kiba smirked, "We'll see."

...

Rikumi stood with the rest of the genin in wait as Kakashi emerged from the office. Everyone was tired after the couple hours spent training and were getting impatient with their sensei's tardiness.

"Alright, sorry to keep you guys waiting. We have the final announcement for those whom are going to Suna," Kakashi announced. He paused, for effect, and cast an amused look over the many faces leaning towards him in anticipation. "Neji Hyuga and Shikamaru Nara, you have been chosen as the transfer students to go to Suna."

Rikumi froze. She was not going. The possibility had always been there, but in truth, she had never put any leverage behind the idea. It struck her how childish and naïve that was. She stared at the floor as the rest of her classmates congratulated Neji and Shikamaru. Her head snapped up as Shikamaru spoke up.

"There must be a mistake, I didn't volunteer," He said.

Kakashi frowned and flipped through his papers. "You're sure? Your name's on the list."

Shikamaru nodded. "Yeah, travel's not my thing."

"More like you can't be bothered," Naruto joked.

Everyone laughed. It was true; Shikamaru was not exactly the most active of all people. Quite the opposite, actually.

Kakashi let his papers fall back into place on the clipboard. "Alright, if that's the case, I'll be right back." He left the group and returned to the office.

Rikumi was so excited, she had another chance. She silently prayed for her acceptance before turning to glance around at the others, trying to calculate her chances. There was 1/11 chance that she would be picked… She did not like those odds.

Kakashi returned not long after, ready to announce who been chosen. He stood in front of the group in silence, just to test their patience.

"Well?" Naruto called. "Who is it?"

Kakashi shook his head. "Not you, Naruto."

"Aw man!" Naruto growled.

Kakashi ignored him and continued. "The student who will be accompanying Neji… is Rikumi Shirochi."

Rikumi's eyes widened and she looked up. Her expression beamed light brighter than the sun and she almost squealed in delight. "Thank you!" She called to her sensei and smiled at her friends as she got pats on the back. She could finally go and find out what she had always wanted to know. What had driven her father to madness?

...

"Mother says be safe and all that. But you'll be fine, right Sis?" Miko asked, looking up at his sister.

Rikumi and her family were at the airport, her flight had pulled in and she was saying her goodbyes to her brother as her mother checked her tickets. "Absolutely, and if I'm not, you can have my room." Rikumi smiled and held her fist out.

Miko smiled and bumped it with his own. "Alright. So if you want to keep your stuff, you gotta come back and get it."

Rikumi nodded and rose from her crouched position. She looked over at Neji, who stood by the gate to the ramp leading to the plane, waiting. His uncle had dropped him off, said a few words, then left. She knew he was getting impatient with her, and she was rather eager to go herself. After a quick goodbye with her teary Mother, Rikumi finally joined Neji in boarding. They found their seats on got set up, then they were off. Rikumi thought about how she should go about her little investigation in the sand village. When she was a little girl, Rikumi's father had gone dangerously insane. It had started one day when she had come back from playing in the sand just outside the village border. Her father had gone on some rant about a newspaper article, something about weird magnetic fields. It had only escalated from there. Within a week, he had threatened Rikumi's mother with a knife, yelling about how she needed to listen to the voices or she would suffer. Only days later, that secluded area of the village had been raided by strange men armed with flamethrowers, guns and knives. Rikumi shuddered physically at the memory, it still haunted her dreams and nightmares, and this was seven years later. She turned her gaze out the window and even after calling shotgun on the window seat, she couldn't really see much more than clouds. She decided to close her eyes and try to sleep; at least the time would pass faster. As she drifted into dreams, the last thought that floated through her mind, was the hope that she would not drool all over Neji.

...

Rikumi covered her mouth to yawn as she slipped the key into the lock of the hotel bedroom she had been assigned. Despite the couple hours she got to sleep on the plane, she was still bone tired. She trudged in and flopped across the bed closest to the window. "I call this one!" She announced as Neji set his suitcase by the other bed.

"Alright," Neji grunted. "Then I call first use in the bathroom." He pulled a cloth bag out his suitcase and made his way into the side room that served as the bathroom.

Rikumi stuck her tongue out after him and turned to look out her window. This was where she had grown up. It was her childhood home. The sun was setting and casting an orange glow over the village. She took a moment to marvel at the warm, pastel colours the village reflected from the sunset. It was beautiful. Rikumi dragged herself to her feet and went to the door, calling out to Neji. "'Going for a walk, bye!" She was not sure if he heard her, but left anyway.

Out on the street, people were filling up bars and restaurants and generally getting themselves relaxed. Rikumi stretched her arms up, taking a deep, refreshing breath of the moist evening air, and yes, despite it being a desert, evenings were moist. She slipped her hands into the pockets of her fading jeans and started strolling along the dusty pathways. The crowds in the streets were thinning and Rikumi closed her eyes to enjoy the warmth.

Rikumi's eyes snapped open as she bumped into someone. "Oh, I'm sorry," She automatically apologized.

"Hm? Oh, it's cool," said the boy with whom she had collided. He was dressed in what appeared to be a high-school uniform. "Huh? Oh, are you one of the kids from Konohagakure?"

Rikumi nodded. "Yes, that's right. And you are..?"

The boy grinned. "The name's Kankuro. Nice to meet you," he said, extending his hand.

"I'm Rikumi, call me Riku," She responded, shaking his hand.

"Rikumi? Oh! I know you. The sentinel, right?" Kankuro asked.

"Uh, I don't really go by that anymore," Rikumi explained. When she was a child, Rikumi had found great entertainment by finding a trafficked area and watching people. She had used to do it in all kinds of places. She would watch kids when they played. She would watch people gamble or do their shopping or train and many other things. The villagers soon picked up on it, especially in school, and she earned the nickname of the sentinel.

"Oh, okay, well… welcome back!" Kankuro smiled. "See you around." He held a hand up in a lazy wave as he turned and resumed walking down the streets.

Rikumi returned the wave. "Sure." Kankuro.. Kankuro… She tried to remember if she had known him before or not. She did not think she had. She shrugged and began turning back to the apartment. She couldn't have been walking for more than five minutes when she heard a commotion a little further down the street. Curious, Rikumi made her way over to where voices could be heard.

She peered into a restaurant with a few other onlookers to see none other than Kankuro, along with two others. One of them was a blonde-haired girl, and the other a red-headed boy. All three of them were wearing high-school uniforms. The three stood around a table in one of the restaurant corners, glasses of water rippled with the motions around them and school bags rested at the base of the chairs.

"Get away from me!" The red-haired boy was yelling over the table at the other two, whom were slowly backing away. "You don't understand! What makes you think you understand?!" His voice was deep, rough, and menacing. And there was a kind of feral light glinting in his blue eyes.

"Gaara.. please, there are people watching," soothed Blondie, shifting around a chair to back up against the red-painted wall.

"Yeah, cool it," said Kankuro, not backing up, but not threatening to move forward either. Murmurs could be heard from the onlookers and Rikumi was getting a little nervous. Something was definitely off.

"I don't care about them. Don't you see? The blood," he paused and looked around, almost frantic, "It pulses and throbs. Get out of my way!" The last part was screamed as he charged through the front entrance of the restaurant, shoving aside anyone who got in his way.

Rikumi's only thought was… what just happened?


	3. Chapter 3

"Oh, Rikumi, hello," Kankuro said nervously as she approached. After witnessing a boy, apparently named Gaara, go completely nuts, she decided it was fair to ask a few questions.

"Hello, Kankuro. Look, I'm not sure how to ask this… but, what just happened?" Rikumi asked.

"Well, you see… uh… hehe, that was-"

Whatever it was that Kankuro was going to say, was cut off by Blondie. "Who's this, Kankuro?" She asked, eyeing Rikumi almost suspiciously. "What does she want?"

"Temari! I was trying to explain stuff," he sighed. "Sorry about her, this is my sister, Temari. And the guy you just saw was Gaara, my brother."

Rikumi turned to the one named Temari. "Hello," she greeted, "My name is Rikumi. You might have known me many years ago as the sentinel? I'm here as a transfer student from Konoha." She held out her hand for Temari to shake.

Temari ignored her handshake; she was too busy looking out the nearby window. Without turning to look at Rikumi, she acknowledged her greeting with a light nod and said, "Yeah, I remember you. Kankuro, we really outta go find him. Someone could get hurt."

Kankuro sighed, "If we go try to find him, that someone will be us. You saw how angry with us he was."

Rikumi got tired of the confusion. "What happened to him?" she asked.

"Oh, right. You're an outsider, you wouldn't know. Well, you see, for the past several years, there's been some kind of disease or something going around. No-one knows how it travels, as it seems to affect completely unrelated people at random. No-one knows how to fix it, as the only symptoms are in the person's behaviour. It slowly drives them to madness, with varying degrees of severity and speed," Kankuro explained. He said it so casually, as if he had recited it many times. Which he probably had, whenever visitors asked about it at least.

Rikumi was in shock. "How long?! How long has this been going on for?!" It was exactly like what happened to her father. But that could not be it. Nothing was ever this simply. This easy. The world just did not work like that.

Kankuro shrugged, "I don't know, a while. Gaara only started about a month or two ago. Others have had it for a couple years, and some are too dangerous to be around in a few days."

It did not make sense. Rikumi needed more details. After a few more minutes of question, she found that Kankuro really had nothing more to offer. Just that anyone who got too dangerous was put in the asylum down-town.

"Kankuro," Temari intruded. "We really need to find Gaara now. It's dark out and he could be anywhere."

"We can't Temari! How many times do we have to go through this? He'd just run away from us again. Or beat us up. Either way, we won't get him back," Kankuro snapped.

"Well what about this kid? If she's so curious about this nuthouse, why doesn't she go see for herself?" Temari suggested, not too politely at that.

Rikumi definitely was not comfortable going searching for a crazy, apparently violent person; especially a stranger. "Uh... pass. I have to get home now anyway, my teammates gonna be wondering where I am." She began backing away towards the door, waving.

"Chicken," Temari teased, but was obviously not impressed.

"Ya, that's me. Bye!" She turned and proceeded to leave the restaurant. Once she was out in the night air again, it was a relief. Temari was making her uncomfortable, and Kankuro had just seemed amused about the whole thing. But at least she had found out something useful, that her father's decent into madness was indeed an illness. Rikumi shuddered, the desert may be boiling hot by day, but by night, it was freezing. She hugged herself to keep warmth and sped up to get back to the warmth of her temporary home.

...

Rikumi growled after making a turn and realizing she had gone the wrong way, everything was so dark, she could barely see anything. Well, that is what she got for taking side-streets. After a brief look around, she marked out her directions and headed back to the nearest main street, where lamp-posts would be sure to light up the area. A flicker of movement in the corner of her eye made her freeze and spin in that direction. Her eyes narrowed as she tried to pick out whatever it was that had been moving in the dark. Feeling on edge, she sped up around the next corner. There was the movement again. Alright, something was _definitely_ following her. Rikumi broke into a run, reciting all her self-defense moves through her head.

The shadow finally revealed itself, jumping off a roof, of all places, and tackling her to the ground. Rikumi yelped and struggled against it, rolling off her shoulders and slamming her feet into it's side, sending whoever it was sprawling in the sand of a nearby garden. Rikumi scurried to her feet, adrenaline and fear making her eyes wide and her heart thump in her chest. She realised her hands were shaking and clenched them together as she slowly turned to face the treat. _Move faster!_ She yelled in her head, _Dammit, Rikumi, move! _Finally she managed to face what had attacked her, and saw none other than the one known as Gaara, staring at her with his teeth bared in a beast-like snarl. "Wh-what are you doing?" Rikumi stuttered. Stupid, that was a stupid question.

Gaara chuckled lightly. "You're a stranger, strangers can't be allowed here. They can't! It's not good, not good at all. I was trying to scare you off."

"Yeah, sure, that's why you're looking at me like I'm a fly you can squish!" she shot back. At the moment, snappy comebacks seemed like the best defence. She new they were not, but it made her feel more confident. Her hands had stopped shaking, finally.

Gaara growled low from the back of his throat. But he cut it off with a sudden jerk. "What… What is…" His eyes grew wide, and he took a step back. "No, it was you?"

"What?" Rikumi cocked her head in confusion. Gaara seemed even stranger than before. He lowered his head, and hunched his back, like a wolf prepared for a fight. Should she run? This would be her chance to get away. But to just leave this guy here like this… it did not seem right. Rikumi looked around, but no-one was around. No-one could help.

Gaara was watching her with wide, but determined eyes. He looked like he would attack her any moment now. Rikumi backed up. "Look, I don't want any trouble. I'll go now."

"No. I won't let you," he seemed perfectly calm, but the look in his eyes.

It happened so fast, Rikumi barely had time to react. Gaara lunged at her, she stepped out the way in the nick of time and Gaara went tumbling forward, but his foot caught her on the leg and she went down also. Then Gaara had leaped onto her and the two were wrestling on the ground, rolling around. Each one trying to get a hold over the other. But Gaara was strong. Very, very strong. Soon, he had her pinned down and was growling again. Rikumi struggled, using all the twists and release techniques she could think of. Gaara somehow managed to counter them all with brute strength. No-one could be this strong, no one! Well… unless they were crazy.

And this guy was definitely crazy.

"Stop it!" Rikumi screamed, feeling helpless and scared. "Hey! Stop it!" She was so scared. She was all alone. No-one knew where she was, and anything could happen. Her whole body shook violently and all she could do was stare into the cold, so very cold, eyes of the boy looming over her like a predator.

And she was the prey.

Then he just… snapped. Something was gone and replaced by another. His expression was one of horror, confusion and disbelief, all underlying the presence of fear in his eyes. "I… who are you?" He asked, staring at her.

"I'm Rikumi, dammit! Get off me! Leave me alone!" She screamed at him.

"What… how did I…" His grip loosened as he looked around himself.

That was all Rikumi needed, she twisted her wrist and grabbed his, slamming her chin into his elbow joint to break the lock, then twisted and slammed him into the ground, using the momentum to spring to her feet and run. Run without looking back.

...

"NEJI!" Rikumi screamed as she burst through the door to the apartment. She could feel the tear stains on her cheeks, the tremors that racked her body, and the solid adrenaline pumping through her veins like cold, hard steel. The second she was over the threshold, she slammed the door shut and sunk down against it, pulling her knees up as tight as she could and wrapping her arms around them, holding herself together.

"Rikumi?!" Came Neji's muffled, concerned reply. The sound of fabric shifting told Rikumi that he must have gone to bed. "What happened? Are you alright?"

Rikumi felt a light touch on her shoulder and looked at Neji, whom was crouched beside her. "Neji, there was- I was… He was going to kill me!"

"Hey, calm down, you're safe now. Who was trying to hurt you?"

Rikumi shook her head, not wanting to speak.

Neji took the hint and stood. "Come on. We'll talk in the morning."

Rikumi shook her head again, not wanting to move.

"Very well… I'll be right there if you need me," he said, sound uncertain before climbing back into his bed. Neji was not known for his sensitivity, but all Rikumi needed right now was to know that someone was there. And that was enough.

...

The next day, Rikumi had sorted her self out, and was composed enough to get dressed, eat breakfast, and make light conversation with Neji. It was Sunday, so they did not need to be anywhere, and Rikumi was happy just to stay home and watch T.V.

Neji left at some point, Rikumi did not exactly remember when. She was still exhausted from yesterday. Dozing on the couch, watching some random comedy show, Rikumi was finally relaxed. That was, until she heard a knock at the door. She got up to answer it and then hesitated. She shook her head, refusing to let paranoia overtake her.

She opened the door to see none other than Kankuro standing there, looking awkward and unsure of himself. "Uh, hey there. Riku, it?" He asked.

"Um, yeah. Hi Kankuro," She replied, already knowing where this was going.

"Look, I'll get straight tt the point. When Gaara came home last night.." He shook his head. "I just wanted to apologize. He felt so bad about it. Are you alright? I know how he can get when he's not sick, let alone now. Were you hurt?"

"Kankuro, look, I'm fine. But, what I'm really wondering is… how did you know where I'm staying?" She asked. It was a reasonable question.

"Oh, I saw your friend on the street, after explaining, he gave me directions."

"Neji? How did you know it was him?"

"Foreigners are pretty easy to pick out." Kankuro shrugged. "Anyway, Gaara will probably try to avoid you from now on, knowing him. But I was just sort of asking you not to hold too much of a grudge. It's hard enough dealing with that sort of thing already."

Rikumi folded her arms and leaned against the doorframe. "Look, I don't want to sound rude. But aren't people but under surveillance when they get dangerous?"

Kankuro sighed. "Yeah, but this is the first time Gaara has actually attacked anyone. I.. I don't know what to do about it."

"He could have killed me, Kankuro! Don't you get it?! What if it's a child next time? Or an elder? Someone who can't defend themselves? What if it's you or Temari?" Rikumi paused to take a deep breath and calm down. She knew she was overreacting, but then again, she had every reason to.

"Alright! I admit! He's a little pyscho," Kankuro sighed. "That's all I have to say. Goodbye." Without even pausing to listen to Rikumi's response, he left.

Rikumi sighed. Wasn't she just great at making friends? Telling them they should lock their brother up in the nut house is a great way to start.

Not.

Rikumi sighed again and flopped on the couch, thinking. Okay, so this guy, Gaara, he is apparently just like her father had been. Before it all happened, her father had been a kind man. She had looked up to him and they had played all the time. She shook her head, not wanting to think about it too deeply. It hurt. It really did. But it was in the past and she had learned long ago that there was no use in grieving now, it only made those around her gloomy and depressed. Maybe she _could _give this Gaara another chance… but it would not be easy. They say first impressions are everything, and this time, that saying was pretty darn accurate. There was no way she would be able to look at this guy without seeing that same feral gleam in his eyes… the same that had been in her father's. No! She was not going to think about that again. Alright. She had made her decision. Her time in the SunagakureHigh School started tomorrow. She would try and speak with him then. After all, she did not really know many people in Suna yet.


	4. Chapter 4

_Beep! Beep! Beep! Beep! Be- _

Rikumi slapped the top of her alarm and groaned as she rolled out of bed, sliding her feet into the fluffy flip-flops that served as her protection against the cold tiles. "Neji," She mumbled as she passed his bed to head into the kitchen. "Get up."

"Bite me," He muttered and rolled over.

Rikumi smirked and shuffled over to the fridge, grabbing out some milk and an apple. As she was eating and drinking her hot cocoa, Neji came through, fully dressed, but his overly-long hair still loose and rumpled by sleep.

Rikumi raised an eyebrow, "That was fast." She glanced down at herself, still in lady-bug pyjamas and white fluffy slippers.

Neji ignored her comment and settled at the table with a tea and some toast, munching down.

After an hour or so, they were ready and out the door, making their way to SHS, Sunagakure's High School. Upon arrival, Rikumi was actually surprised at how small it was. Not many people, maybe 70 people within sight, Rikumi guesse the school would hold maybe one-hundred students, one-twenty at the very most. But then, Suna was not very big anyway.

Once Neji and Rikumi had signed in and gotten themselves organized, they were sent to their form room. Which was one of about four or five. Upon arrival, Rikumi looked around and felt a pang of disappointment when Kankuro and his siblings were not there. She shrugged and picked out a seat, reviewing her schedule for the day. She wondered where the dojo (or whatever they used) was situated.

Not much happened during school time. So, when classes were over, Rikumi wandered the ground, searching for Neji. They needed to find the Dojo. She found him in the school library, of all places. "Come on, Neji. Let's get going," she called impatiently.

"Alright, one minute," Neji muttered as he finished checking his books out and packing them in his backpack.

Then the two of them were off looking for the Dojo. They called in to the school office, where they were given directions. The dojo was actually underground, and the door was so… ordinary. Just a wooden door with a rope handle, buried under a thin layer of sand. Neji heaved on the handle to reveal a staircase leading down. It was not very well lit and seemed quite gloomy, like something out of a movie.

"This… is actually kinda cool," Rikumi decided as she began descending the steps. Neji followed after her, letting the door shut with a solid _thump _that echoed down the eerie staircase.

The staircase eventually came to an abrupt end and immediately opened up into a well lit, air-conditioned area. People were sparring in groups or being taught by some of the higher-ups. The floor was lined with yoga mats and padded posts dotted the area. There were a couple doors off to the side, supposedly leading through to bathrooms and offices.

"Can I help you?" Came a gruff voice. Rikumi and Neji turned to the side to see a man, appearing to be in his late twenties or early thirties. A red tattoo marked his right cheek in a claw like pattern and he wore some kind of veil over the left side of his face. He wore a black headband, marking him as a Jonin. When training in ninjutsu, there were five levels. No headband marked those still in the beginner stages, blue headbands marked genin, red headbands marked chunin, black marked jonin, and grey marked a veteran, not that veteran was a status one acquired through training, but they still were recognized nonetheless.

"Uh, yeah. We're from Konoha," Rikumi explained, tapping her headband. "Here to train."

The man looked Rikumi and Neji up and down, visually assessing them. "Alright then, my name's Baki. Come with me, our genin are over here," he said as he walked towards one of the post-marked areas. He waved over the genin and Rikumi immediately recognized Kankuro, Temari, and… Gaara.

She froze where she stood beside Baki, her instincts reacting to the very sight of a threat. He seemed to be ignoring her, looking at Baki with his arms folded. _It's okay, it's okay, _she kept repeating in her head, forcing her muscles to relax. It was difficult, but in the next few seconds, she had herself under control again.

"Everyone, these are the genin from Konohagakure. Treat them well, test them thoroughly, and show them what you've got," Baki instructed with a smirk on his face. He lifted a hand in dismissal before walking off and leaving the genin to their own devices. Everyone just sort of stayed where they were, inspecting the newcomers. One by one, they started to break off and go back to training. Rikumi did not know about Neji, but she certainly felt awkward just standing there as eyes scanned over her, judging her, assessing her. Soon, everybody was back to their stations, either sparring or practicing on posts, or doing cardio exercise.

Rikumi looked at Neji and shrugged, a gesture which he returned. The two went to start their training. Ten minutes or so into sparring with some girl named Shirai, Rikumi excused herself to get a drink of water. She guzzled it down, refreshed and quenched of thirst within seconds. A glance over the genin revealed that Kankuro was also stopping for a drink and she took the opportunity to hurry over. "Kankuro," She said.

"Hm?" He grunted and turned to look at her. "Oh, it's you, Rikumi."

"Just Riku is fine. Anyway, I, uh, I did some thinking. And I think I'm gonna try and sort this out with your brother. But you gotta help me, okay?"

Kankuro seemed surprised by the news. "Yes, of course. What did you want me to do?"

"Gimme some tips or something. How should I approach him? What do I say? I'm not good at this kind of thing!" She said.

"Uh… don't ask me, I have no idea."

"Well, aren't you a great help."

"I'm serious! I honestly don't know! Gaara and I aren't exactly all that close. I just don't know."

Rikumi sighed, "Fine, I'll figure something out." She turned and soon spotted Gaara, practicing kicks on a training post. As she began to make her way over to him, she heard Kankuro call her and stopped, turning.

"Rikumi!" He had called. Once he had her attention, he smiled. "Thanks for understanding. We don't really want to handle any more spite from people than we have to."

Rikumi nodded and continued walking towards Gaara. Only… he was not there. She looked around and saw that he had shifted to another pole. He was avoiding her, great. Just great. She shook it off and approached him again, standing about a meter or so away, so she was out of range of his kicks. When he ignored her, she cleared her throat. Gaara stopped, his eyes still focused on the post. He did not say anything, but lowered his leg from where it had been pressed against the foamy padding.

"Um, hello," Rikumi greeted nervously.

His eyes shifted to her and Rikumi felt that same pang of fear that she had felt when she walked in here and saw him. She quickly composed herself and straightened up, trying to appear calm and collected. _Neji would be so much better at this, _she thought.

Gaara's vision shifted back to the pole. "You don't have to be here. You're afraid of me, I can see it in your eyes. And you have every reason to be."

Rikumi… did not have an answer to that. What he said was true. She _didn't _have to be here. She _was_ afraid of him. And she _did _have every reason.

Gaara seemed to note her silence and moved on to punching the pole.

"Well…" Rikumi folded her arms. "I also have every reason to have your attention and an explanation, do I not? At least an introduction."

Gaara stopped punching again and this time he turned his head to face her. "My name is Gaara. I am the Kazekage's youngest. And if you know what's good for you, you'll leave me alone."

Rikumi blinked. The Kazekage's youngest? That was new. "Fine then," she said flatly. "Have a nice day, Gaara." She turned and left him to his pole, walking over to where Kankuro was sparring. "You're brother doesn't seem to like me too much."

Kankuro gave the signal for pause and looked at her, patting dust out of his hair. "Yeah… he doesn't really like anyone too much. What did he say?"

"Nothing that I didn't already know," Rikumi said dryly.

Kankuro cringed, "Yeah... sorry."

"Don't apologize, it wasn't your fault," she sighed.

Kankuro shrugged, "Well hey, wanna spar? I'd like to see what a leaf genin has to offer."

...

Sparring with Kankuro was a challenge, but in the end, they were roughly, evenly matched.

"Not bad," Kankuro smirked between heaving breaths.

Rikumi grinned faintly in acknowledgement and braced her hands on her thighs, catching her breath. The dojo was half empty now and it was getting late.

"Rikumi," Neji said from behind her. "We should get going."

Rikumi straightened up and nodded, throwing Kankuro a lazy wave. "So long." Kankuro waved back and Rikumi followed Neji out the dojo. They ascended the stairs, Neji pressed against the heavy entrance door and flipped it open.

Rikumi gasped, the sun was brimming on the horizon. She had no idea they had been down there that long. "Uh, Neji. I have some things to do. So, I'll head back later," S\ahe said.

Neji shrugged. "Suit yourself."

Rikumi nodded and veered off onto a side street. She had some more research to do. She was not going to waste a single day. Two months. That is how long she had to figure out what was causing people to drop into the insanity. Place to start? Kankuro said that those who became too dangerous were sent to the asylum. So that was logically the place to start.

It did not take long to locate the building. After calling aside a taxi, she was taken directly to it. The fee was more than she expected, but she grudgingly payed it nonetheless. The building was towering, large, white and had 'Sunagakure Institute for the Mentally Disturbed' protruding out the front in bold, dark, blue letters. Rikumi entered through the spinning front door and looked around the pristine lobby. Everything was either white or blue, and there was a big desk opposite her with 'Administration' written across the front. Rikumi walked up to the desk and hit the bell, which dinged loudly, echoing across the lobby.

It took only a minute for a woman in a white coat and glasses to come hustling through. "Yes? Can I help you?" She asked.

"Yes, I believe you can. My name is Rikumi, and, well, I guess I have a few questions," Rikumi said and mentally slapped herself. She really had not thought this far through.

"Well, certainly. What kind of questions?"

"It's about the, uh… thing; the one that's sending people cuckoo. My father suffered from it you see, and I would like more information as to why," she explained.

"Ah, well, I'm afraid there's very little known about that… even after all this time..." The woman sighed. "We have been experimenting on deceased patients. And yet we find nothing. The tests we do on living patients are minimal and have given us few results."

"But you do have results?! Please, tell me what you've found out!"

The nurse shrugged helplessly. "Without permission from Doctor Kinto, I'm afraid I cannot reveal anything."

"Then allow me to see this Doctor," Rikumi pushed. "Please? I really need this information."

The nurse gave an exasperated sigh. "Alright, I'll see if he's in, what was your name?"

"Riku," she answered.

"Alright then, Riku, please go wait over there." She extended her arm in a gesture towards some chairs lined up against the wall before walking off, presumably to find this Doctor.

Rikumi thumped down in one of the chairs, exhausted from the training. Thoughts raced around her head, the way they do when one's body is tired. She was snapped out of her thoughts by an elevator door opening. Out stepped a man in a white coat, carrying a clipboard. The classical movie-ready doctor.

"Riku?" he questioned, his eyes falling on Rikumi. She nodded and stood, walking over.

"You're Doctor Kinto?" She asked.

"Indeed. Now, I believe you had a few questions, yes?"

She nodded.

"Well, unfortunately, I'm terribly busy, so I don't have time to walk you through everything. But, if you would come back tomorrow, I can present you with written information," he suggested.

Rikumi thought about it a moment. Written information would be a little difficult to understand, but it was better than nothing. "Alright. When did you want me around?"

"Some time tomorrow afternoon. I'll have the papers at the desk, waiting for you."

Rikumi was actually surprised at how easy it would be to acquire such information. But hey, no complaints. "Alright, I'll come around after school. Thank you, doctor." She smiled.

He waved a hand in acknowledgment before heading back inside the elevator.

Better than nothing, right?


	5. Chapter 5

Rikumi had gone straight from her classes to pick up the information. When she arrived, it was waiting for her behind the desk and she needed only speak her name before the administrator handed it over in a paper protector. She flicked through the files briefly; there were various charts and numbers, lists and graphs, and plain, documentary journal-like entries. She nodded and ran out the building again to where the taxi was waiting. She climbed in and the woman behind the steering wheel started their course back to the high school.

Upon arrival, Rikumi paid the fare, climbed out the car, and made her way to the door that lead to the dojo. She slipped the files in her backpack, safe and not going to be crumpled. As she trudged down the dark steps, she heard a slight commotion coming from the dojo. She poked her head inside and saw a large group gathering over by the chunin's usual section. Everyone was mumbling excitedly and shifting around each other, trying to get a better view at whatever it was they were looking at. Curious, Rikumi stalked over and peered over shoulders and ruffled heads.

Two of the chunin were going rounds at each other. But it was not casual sparring. It was obvious that there were decent amounts of force behind those blows. And one of them had already ended up with a blood nose. Rikumi smirked. Fights like this rarely happened in Konoha's dojo, but when they did, it was awesome entertainment. One of the chunin slammed a long leg into his opponent's stomach. The other chunin staggered back, but recovered quickly and leaped in on long-legs like a cat, grabbing and heaving as he practically threw the guy to the ground. The fight went on like that for a good minute or so, with deadly moves being exchanged. All the chunin and genin were watching in amazement and probably telling themselves to learn some of those moves later. Rikumi looked around the crowd. She picked out Neji, Kankuro, Gaara and Temari, along with a few other faces she recognised, but did not yet know the names of.

Everyone gasped as someone stepped forward.

Gaara?

He grabbed long-legs by his wrist and the other by the back of his shirt. The two chunin stopped and looked at him. They could have pulled away if they wanted to... but they just seemed to be staring. There was a murmur running through the crowd. Rikumi was behind Gaara and just off to the left, so she couldn't make out his expression.

After several seconds in silence, he spoke. "You know… if you keep doing that, you're going to stain the mats red. So how about this?" Gaara moved in a flash, he spun, crouched, and then flung the two chunin across the dojo. They hit the ground, rolled, and tried to get their feet.

Everyone stared at Gaara as he stood there. Rikumi felt her heart pounding in her chest. What was he doing?!

And then… he started laughing. "How about we go play outside for a while?! The three of us! What do you say?!"

Rikumi instinctively took a step back.

Other guy had recovered now, and long-legs was seconds behind him. They both glared at Gaara and whispered something to each other. They must have come to some agreement, because long legs spoke up. "We can't spar with genin unless given permission."

"Then I give you permission," Gaara said, sounding annoyed.

"Gaara, you can't-" Kankuro was cut off by Temari clasping a hand firmly over his mouth.

But Gaara's glare was on him like a swarm of daggers. "I can't what? Hey, _brother_? What exactly is it that I _can't _do?"

Kankuro kept his mouth shut. Rikumi wondered if she should do something. But then, what could she do?

She glanced around. Where were the jonin when you needed them? Oh, Baki was indeed there, watching from the doorway. He seemed tense, but was not making a move to help. She looked back at Gaara, he was advancing on the two chunin. They shifted into their favoured stances. It was amazing, she though, the way two enemies could work together to face a common threat.

But a fight like that… here…. There were still children watching from the corner. They could not break out into a fight like the one she had been in the other night. She slowly shifted her way over to Kankuro and Temari. "Do something!" She whispered sharply.

"Like what?" Kankuro shot back.

"I don't know, something, anything!"

"And get him even angrier?" Temari glared.

"No, just… Ah screw it, I'm going in."

"No, wait!"

But they were too late, Rikumi was already gliding towards Gaara, stopping a solid, comforting metre away from him. She cleared her throat. "Gaara."

Gaara stopped in his tracks and turned his head around to look at the new challenger.

Rikumi suddenly realised that it was a bad idea. Reckless. Stupid. Terrifying. "Um, you wanted to go outside? Let's go," she said, her voice revealing her nervousness.

Gaara did not even notice her insecurity. He grinned wide and said, "Finally, new prey to play with."

That was _creepy. _Just plain creepy. She swallowed past the lump of fear forming in her throat and began edging her way towards the stairs. A glance back at the onlookers revealed Neji giving her the right-behind-you-gesture. She gave a small, almost imperceptible nod and returned her eyes to Gaara, she never took her eyes off him as she made her way to the stairs. The stairs were dark, Gaara was unpredictable, and it was just not fun at all.

Rikumi took a deep breath and pushed open the door leading outside. She scurried up and spun to face Gaara, frightened to keep her eyes off him for too long. But he wasn't threatening her at all. His movements were jerky and unbalanced, but he seemed confident.

"So, um... we're outside," Rikumi stated, tensed. Why had she done this? She knew what could, and probably would, happen if this got out of hand.

"You've got an awful lot of courage for an outsider," Gaara grinned. "Let's see if you can match that courage with strength!" With that, he was running at her. Rikumi decided to just buy her time. It was the best she could do. She ran through the empty school, startling a few teachers as she rounded corners. She could hear Gaara's footsteps right behind her. Her heart pounded in her chest, blood pumping through her veins and allowing her faster movement. As she skidded around a corner, her shoes slipped on the concrete and she felt herself losing her balance. _No! Not now! _But she went down, rolling across the pavement, knocking her head.

"Ah!" She exclaimed and tried to stagger to her feet. However, Gaara was looming over her, a lopsided, feral grin glaring down at her.

"Looks like I win. Little mouse," he said, chuckling. "The mouse will always fall prey to the cat."

_Thump! _

Gaara lurched sideways as what seemed to be a wooden club slammed into the side of his head. He toppled over. In his place stood Neji, wielding a baseball bat with a grip so tight it made his knuckles white. "Rikumi! Are you alright?" He asked, watching Gaara with an eagle's eye.

"Y-yeah, thanks Neji," she stuttered back, climbing to her feet.

Gaara groaned and shifted. "What…"

Rikumi realised that Gaara still had not noticed that Neji was there. She made a shooing gesture and pointed around a nearby corner. Mouthing _Go, go now. _

Neji got the message and silently backed up around the corner, ready to intervene again if needed.

Rikumi nodded silently and stood over Gaara. "Cat catches the mouse, huh? Look who's the mouse now."

"What are you talking about?" Gaara mumbled, levering himself onto his hands and knees and looking up at her. "Oh…" He lowered his gaze again and got to his feet, dusting off himself absently.

"Uh… are you alright now?" Rikumi asked.

Gaara nodded, "Yeah I-" He stopped and swayed slightly, staggering. His hand lifted to his forehead, as if he had a headache.

Well, he did just get whacked over the head with a baseball bat. That might be a viable explanation.

"Woah," Rikumi muttered, grabbing his shoulder and steadying him. "You got hit pretty hard. Just take it easy."

Gaara shrugged her off. "I'm fine." It was obvious he wasn't, but Rikumi let go anyway. "What did I do?" he asked, seemingly hesitant to know.

"Um… played cat and mouse?" Rikumi offered.

He seemed to accept that. He looked her over. "I didn't injure anybody?"

Rikumi thought for a moment. "Well, not badly. You threw around a couple chunins, but they kinda deserved it." Gaara nodded slowly. He seemed a lot calmer, but unsteady. Perhaps concussion? Rikumi turned slightly. "Neji? It's alright now."

Gaara looked up at that as Neji appeared around the corner. The two had some sort of stand off, each one eyeing the other. Without a word, Gaara turned and started walking off.

"Hey!" Rikumi called, grabbing his shoulder to stop him.

Gaara stopped and his vision flickered to her. "What?"

"Neji hit you pretty hard, you should probably just sit down for a minute… I mean, you have a concussion," Rikumi said.

He watched her for a moment, not saying a word. Then he just slapped her hand away from him. "Leave me alone."

"Oi!" Rikumi moved in front of him. "What's your problem?! We were just trying to help, there's no need to be so attitude about it," she snapped at him. She had, after all, just risked her life. The least he could do was apologize.

Gaara stopped in his tracks. A silence settled over them, with nothing but the sound of the wind stirring the trees and whipping hair and clothing. Then he just dropped.

Rikumi gasped. Gaara had just fallen to the ground, crumpled in a heap. "H-hey!" She exclaimed, kneeling down.

Neji joined her. "What just happened?"

"You saw!" She growled and touched Gaara's shoulder. "Are you alright? Gaara? Can you hear me?" Nervous, she turned to Neji, "Help me," she said and began shifting Gaara onto his back. He was indeed out cold. Neji whipped out a cell phone, punched in a number and held it to his ear. He turned his back as he started explaining his situation to whoever was on the other end of the line, presumably paramedics.

Rikumi looked around nervously. No-one else was around. School was over and all the teachers had either gone home or were in meetings. She looked down at Gaara again and decided to try and get him to wake up. "Gaara? Gaara, open your eyes." She lightly shook his shoulder. "Get up, come on."

It took about ten minutes for the ambulance to pull up around the back car-cark of the school, lights blazing, but, no sirens. A man and a woman in paramedic uniforms stepped out with bags in their hands and looked around. Neji waved them over, calling.

"What happened?" the man asked as the woman checked Gaara.

Rikumi explained what had happened since they left the dojo, adding on the end. "He was concussed afterwards, but he seemed alright…"

The man nodded and folded his notepad, "I see. Alright, we'll look at him. Are you his friend?"

"Uh, not really, acquaintance," Rikumi explained.

"That'll do. Does he have family?"

"Yes, but I don't know how to contact them…"

Neji volunteered. "I'll go get them." Without waiting for an answer, he bolted off in the direction of the dojo.

Rikumi stood by patiently as the paramedics checked Gaara. She was nervous and could not help a bit of fiddling.

Soon, the woman started repacking her bag and the man stood up and looked at her. "We can't find anything broken or damaged. Although there are numerous signs of-"

He was cut short by a call from Neji, whom was running around the corner.

"I can't find them," he said. "They must've gone home."

Rikumi cursed under her breath. They did not have a phone number or an address or any way to contact them. She held up a finger to the man in a one-moment gesture and pulled Neji aside to speak with him. "What are we going to do?"

"I don't think we have much of a choice."

Realization dawned on Rikumi and she shook her head, "Oh, no, we can't! I mean, he-"

"Cannot just be left out here," Neji cut her off. "Look, I don't like it any more than you do. But what else are we supposed to do?"

Rikumi sighed, "Fine." She turned back to the paramedic, who went on with his explanation.

Apparently, Gaara suffered from insomnia, and the lack of sleep, combined with the stress of training, insanity, and being hit over the head with a baseball bat was all his body could take. He just needed rest that was all.

Rikumi agreed to allow him to come back to the apartment, with the paramedics help, they got home and deposited/dumped the out-cold Gaara on the nearest bed, which happened to be Neji's, to his frustration. Rikumi thanked them and bid them goodnight, closing the door and locking it. She sighed. "What have we gotten ourselves into?" she asked, not really expecting an answer.

"You're the one who had to 'play' with him," Neji pointed out.

"Oh, shut up. What else was I supposed to do? Baki-sensei wasn't going to do anything. And everyone else was freaked out." She folded her arms and sat on the end of her own bed.

"I'm not saying it was a bad thing. I'm just saying you should be prepared to accept the consequences."

"What are you, my father? Just drop it already." She sighed, realising she was getting annoyed and a bit mad. "I'm sorry. Just stressed out, you know?"

Neji nodded his understanding. "I'm going to try and find some contact to whoever this guys parents are." With that, he grabbed his laptop from where it lay charging on his bedside drawers and slipped through to the kitchen.

Rikumi called after him, "Kazekage!"

"What?" Neji called back.

"His father is the kazekage!"

"Alright!"

Rikumi looked over at Gaara. She shook her head, smiling lightly. "You totally owe me one for this." She laid in her own bed and popped in her ear buds, reaching into her pocket to play her shuffle.

...

Rikumi woke with a start. She had not even known she had fallen asleep. But apparently she had. Neji was next to her, removing his hand from her shoulder. "What is it, Neji?" She groaned, rubbing her eyes.

"Remember when I told you this would have complications?"

Rikumi blinked, oh, Gaara, right. "Uh, yeah. What about it?"

"We've got this guy all night. So kindly help me get my bed back."

Rikumi blinked again. "Hold on, back up. Why have we got him all night? I thought you were gonna contact his parents."

"I did. It was his brother that answered the phone. He wants us to keep Gaara overnight if we can. Apparently stuff is happening over there." Neji shrugged. "I didn't want to. But… he can sleep on the floor, right?"

Rikumi knew her expression must have resembled the look one would save only for the occasions where the subject were all but retarded. She sighed and shook her head. "Maybe we can wake him?"

"Are you sure that's a good idea?"

"Alright! We'll move him! I just want to get back to sleep," She mumbled that last part, as Neji was already shifting his focus to the other bed. "Where do we put him?"

"The floor."

"Neji!"

"What?"

"Ugh, honestly." Rikumi rolled her eyes and slipped out of bed. She rummaged through the linen cupboard before producing a few thick blankets, which she stacked on top of each other on the floor to form a make-shift mattress. "There, the floor. Happy?"

Neji gave a slight shrug.

It took some juggling and some harsh whispers – although why they had decided to whisper was a mystery – but soon Gaara was on the make shift mattress and Neji was turning out the light as Rikumi climbed back into bed. Finally, some rest.


	6. Chapter 6

Morning was… interesting. Rikumi woke up to a muffled conversation from the other room. She groaned and rolled over, closing her eyes again.

"I heard you, Rikumi. Get in here," came Neji's call.

"Screw you, Hyuga. It's Riku," Rikumi muttered.

"Rikumi!"

"Fine! I'm coming!" She snapped and grudgingly stumbled out of bed and into her fluffy flip flops. Definitely not the best morning wake up. She was going to bite his head off. She blinked in surprise at what she saw as she entered the kitchen.

Neji's breakfast still sat half eaten on the table. Neji himself standing near it, arms folded. Standing just in front of the doorway, looking over his shoulder at her, was Gaara.

"Oh, uh, good morning?" She said awkwardly, holding back a yawn. Gaara just looked at her. "Is everything alright?"

"Why am I here?" Gaara asked.

"Um… because we're good Samaritans? And when people pass out, good Samaritans don't leave them in the middle of the school yard?" Rikumi offered.

Gaara frowned.

"Look, don't make a big deal out of it," Neji said. "It was a one time kindness." He slid into his seat at the small, wooden table and resumed eating his half-devoured breakfast.

A rather awkward silence ensued. Rikumi broke the silence by offering Gaara breakfast, which he refused. Things did not get much better until the three were leaving for school.

"Hey! Gaara!"

Everyone turned to see Kankuro and Temari running up the block, waving. When they arrived, out of breath, Temari immediately apologized. "Sorry bro, but things were happening, you know, when Dad gets in a bad mood…"

Kankuro rolled his eyes and turned to Rikumi and Neji. "Thank you. We know it was a lot to dump on you last minute. What actually happened?"

"Nothing, just leave it, Kankuro," Gaara cut in.

"I hit him over the head with a baseball bat," Neji went on anyway, clearly amused. It earned him a glare from Gaara.

Kankuro raised an eyebrow. "A baseball bat? What'd you do? Raid the school storage?"

"That's what you got out of that, Kankuro?!" Temari exclaimed. She hid her face in her palm in embarrassment. "My god. You're both hopeless."

Rikumi shrugged, "They're guys. What did you expect?"

That earned her a simultaneous, "Hey!" and, "Hmph," from Kankuro and Neji. To which Temari and Rikumi laughed. Gaara just kept quiet. Observing. Listening. That seemed to be all he ever did. When he was sane at least. Rikumi made a mental note of that.

Kankuro turned to his brother, his face so serious he was almost frowning. "Um, Gaara, come with me a minute." He pulled his brother aside to have some kind of private conversation.

Temari sighed. "Mind if I walk with you guys? This could end in raised voices."

Rikumi nodded. "What are they talking about?"

"None of your business," Temari muttered and spun on her heels to walk along the path that would lead them to the high-school. Neji and Rikumi exchanged a look before hurrying after her.

...

It was in almost the end of science class when Rikumi realised that she still had those notes about the 'insanity' in her backpack. Lunch was in a few minutes. Perhaps her teacher could help her go over them. She made a few quick notes before folding her notepad as the bell rang to signal lunch. She hurried in slipping her books into her bag and clumsily dodged chairs and students to catch the science teacher, Mr. Ontori.

"Ontori-sensei!" Rikumi called, just as he reached for the door. He turned and eyed her with an expression that was a mixture of annoyance and curiosity. "Yes, miss Rikumi?"

"Uh, call me Riku. And, if you don't mind, I'd like your help with something."

"Go talk to your form teacher."

"But this is your field!"

"Alright, fine, what is it?"

Rikumi gave him a one-moment gesture and reached into her pack, producing the data sheets. "I'd like some help deciphering this." She was sure she would be able to understand most of it, but it would help a lot to have a scientist's point of view.

Ontori held his hand out, accepting the papers from Rikumi. He set his briefcase on the ground and began flicking through them. "Interesting… where did you acquire these?"

"From the mental hospital, down town. I wanted to know more about the insanity," Rikumi explained.

"I see. Hm…" He was an awfully fast reader, and was already finished with the first page. "Well, you see this?" He pointed to a bar graph. "This is indicating signs of what would have been high levels of chemical imbalance in the brains of dead subjects. Although which chemicals are unclear…" He moved on to the second page, while Rikumi waited, listening carefully. "Here it is saying that forms of shock therapy have been a temporary setback of the insanity…" More reading. "Hm, some of this is quite interesting. This is quite recent information."

Rikumi had heard that testing and looking at the insanity as a form of disease was only a new approach. At least, that is what she had been told. As it turns out, the few sheets of paper mostly consisted of what had been used to set back the insanity for a few days, or even weeks, depending on the patient. It had great focus on time frames and patterns. As well as things that set them off, this also varied from patient to patient. Lunch was almost over by the time they had finished going over the various graphs and records. Rikumi thanked Ontori profusely before heading out to eat her lunch.

Even with all she had learned, she did not feel she was getting any closer to an understanding.

There was still about ten minutes left for lunch, so Rikumi walked around the school grounds, munching on a bag of potato chips. Soon, she found just the person she was looking for.

Gaara.

He was seated on one of the metal benches, under the shade and protected from the suns glare. Rikumi followed his gaze to a bunch of younger kids playing around in a sand pit (Not that something like that was hard to come across in a desert). The high school was jointed to the primary school after all. She walked over and sat beside him. "Hey, Gaara," She greeted, trying to sound casual.

His gaze flickered over to her. "What is it?"

Rikumi shrugged. "I'm bored. Just want to chat." Foolish? Yes. Would she regret it? Probably. Was she _really _in the mood to go chat with Neji and his sly remarks and judging tone? Definitely not. "And don't just tell me to leave you alone. 'Cause that's really annoying."

Gaara smirked slightly. "Leave me alone," he said, almost mockingly.

"Oh, ha ha." Rikumi rolled her eyes. "I'm staying now, just for that."

Gaara's smirk faded and he turned back to look at the children in the sand pit. "Well, if talking is what you want, why don't you go talk to your friend?"

"Because he's not exactly the best conversational partner. Always sly remarks and such, it's kinda depressing sometimes actually." Rikumi laughed. "Don't get me wrong, he's a good guy, but just hard to be around Twenty four seven, you know?"

Gaara looked at her, seemingly in thought. "And so you decided that I was easier to be around?"

This time, Rikumi could not help but grin. "Definitely not, and that's what makes it interesting."

Gaara had no response for that, and it had obviously taken him off guard. He just shook his head leaned back against the wall.

Rikumi folded her arms. "Hey, the whole point of a conversation is you actually have to contribute. Go on." She smirked. Of all the people she could have gone to talk to. Kankuro, Temari, Neji, even a few of the other kids from her form room. She had chosen Gaara because she was curious. Curious to see the kinds of things he had to say.

"Who said I wanted to be in on a conversation?" Gaara questioned.

"Hm… I did," Rikumi responded.

"I don't remember approving such a decision," he said.

Wow, he was almost as bad as Neji. "That's because I didn't ask for your approval."

Gaara shook his head, a smile curving his lips so slightly that Rikumi almost missed it. "What is the point of this?"

Rikumi shrugged. "Don't know. Don't really care." No answer. Silence. Again. "So…" Rikumi mumbled, trying to think of how to restart the conversation. "Oh! What was Kankuro talking to you about this morning? Temari seemed desperate to get out of the vicinity before fights ensued."

Gaara stood. "That doesn't matter," he said, and began walking away.

"Hey!" Rikumi called, hurrying after him. "Come on, what was it?"

Just then, the bell rang. Gaara ignored her and made his way back to class.

Rikumi let him go and sighed. "Smooth, Rikumi. Real smooth."

...

Gaara walked quickly away from the persistent girl. It had been nice talking to her for a while, but she started asking questions that he could not answer. As the sound of the school bell rang in his ears, Gaara made his way to his next class, woodworking. Sure enough, his brother was there, keen on every word their teacher, Sasori, spoke to them.

But Gaara did not pay much attention. He was still trying to sort out the thoughts in his head. Of this girl, Rikumi, that had seemed so focused on him for some reason. Of recent scenes _he_ had caused. But what troubled him the most, was what was to become of his life after today. When Kankuro had told him of his father's decision, Gaara had felt, at first, a white hot surge of anger, and then the cold, hard realization. It had to be done, there was no choice… but… was this really what his very existence would mean? He felt his hands gripping the bench he had been assigned to work on, but he did not care. He meant more than this. He had to! And he would fight to prove it. He would prove it to his father, to his brother and sister, to the whole village, that his life, his existence, was stronger than this. And it would start right now, in this room, where the students would see. They would finally see that he was not going to lie down and play puppy so easily!

And it started by the flipping of his bench.


	7. Chapter 7

Rikumi's head snapped up at the sound of a loud _crash _from the building across from her classroom. The teacher fell silent and stared out the window.

"Hm... would somebody go check on the woodworking shed? We'll wait for you," she instructed.

Rikumi immediately sprung up, among a few other students; anything to get out of class for a few minutes. "I will!" She exclaimed and dashed for the door. She was the first one there and mentally congratulated herself as she lightly jogged for the woodworking centre.

_Crash! _

She was getting a little worried now. There was some yelling coming from inside. "Um, hello? Is everything alright?" She called as she peeked through the door. Eyes widening, she gasped in shock.

The teacher (Rikumi recognised him as Sasori-sensei), along with about three students, was restraining a familiar red-haired boy. Grappling with him and trying to pin him to the ground. One of the students was kicked away with a yelp and Rikumi rushed to cushion her fall.

"You okay?" She asked. The girl nodded and got off her.

"He just... he just went crazy!" She cried, looking afraid, but focused. She new what was happening, everyone did. Gaara was obviously not the first student to go through this.

Another cry could be heard as the teacher was sent tumbling away from Gaara.

"I will not lie down! I will prove the value of my existence!" Gaara was yelling as another student, along with the girl Rikumi had helped, ran in to tackle him down. "I am stronger than this, stronger than you! And I. Will. Not. Surrender!" He roared and threw two more kids off him. Rikumi blinked in surprise as she recognised one of them as Kankuro.

Kankuro gave her a look that appeared to be one of sadness before turning to his brother with sympathy and pity. "Gaara. I'm going to call father now, alright? I'm so sorry."

Gaara eyes widened and he struggled harder, pulling against the students to try and reach Kankuro. "Don't you dare! I will not go along with that bastard's schemes and plots! I WILL NOT LIE DOWN!"

Kankuro turned to Rikumi, his expression sorrowful and helpless. "Help hold him down. Please." He said no more as he pulled a cell phone out of his pocket and began punching in the number.

Rikumi nodded briefly and leapt on Gaara to form a sort of dog pile. He snarled at her, baring his teeth. "Get off me!" Then be _bit_ her. Sunk his teeth deep into her shoulder, piercing through the skin and causing a flood of warm, crimson blood. Rikumi shrieked and tried to pull back, but he was latched on. Only when she started pushing against him did he let go and send her sprawling backwards, clutching at her injured shoulder. "Hya!" One of the students exclaimed and slammed her elbow down onto the top of Gaara's head. He grimaced and fell back, dazed. "Now!" The girl exclaimed.

Just then, two boys ran out of a storage room carrying ropes with loops in them. They looped Gaara's wrists, knees, and ankles through the loops and pulled them tight. Rikumi realised just how much the students were ready for this. For the past several years, they must have had to find ways to protect themselves from those infected with the insanity. And here it was. The sand village was actually beginning to work together, and it was quite unusual for Rikumi's eyes.

Gaara had regained his awareness only seconds after the boys leaped out of his range. He attempted to leap to his feet, but was caught off-balance by his bonds and pitched forward, smashing into the hard, concrete floor. Rikumi looked around to inspect the damage. A few broken, wooden benches, tools littered the floor, a few minor injuries and some frightened students. But something was missing…

Kankuro. Where was Kankuro?

Rikumi searched around as students started picking up tools and wooden slivers. She found him just outside the building. Kankuro was leaning against the wall, arms folded, head down. "Kankuro?" She asked. "Is everything alright?"

"No. No it's not, Riku. And there's not a damn thing I can do about it," He growled, kicking a stone.

"What's going on?" She asked.

Kankuro's shoulder's hunched slightly, as if it were a physical struggle to speak. "They're going to lock Gaara up. Just like the others… Father authorized it and everything. And there's not a damn thing I can do to stop it!" He yelled as he slammed his fist into the wall he was leaning against. Then he sagged, as if all the fight was just ebbing out of him.

Rikumi covered her mouth. They were going to lock him up in the mental hospital… by the authorization of his own father. She glanced back inside. "Does he know?"

Kankuro nodded solemnly. "Yeah. I told him this morning. We were supposed to have a week to prepare… but…" he paused and sank down to a sitting position, his head drooping. "But I had to tell them when he got out of hand. I have no choice. If I didn't the teachers would, and then all of us would only get in trouble. I didn't want to! I mean, I'm his brother! I'm supposed to be helping him! But there's nothing I can do."

"It's alright, Kankuro. I believe you. Here. Look at these." She went to sit by him, but he stopped her, grabbing her wrist and tugging harshly.

"Listen. Please, just go and try to calm Gaara down. Tell him what's happening and that I'm really sorry. Please? I can't go in. I can't face him after something like this…" Kankuro pleaded.

Rikumi was surprised. "Well, alright. I'll try. But you really should talk to him, you know."

"I know. Just go," he instructed and lightly pushed her towards the door.

Rikumi went along with it, peering back inside. Gaara was still lying on his side on the concrete floor, his back to her. She glanced around. Students were giving him occasional glances, but mostly they were focused on their clean up.

Just then, someone came running in. "Hey, Rikumi!" They called.

"What?" She turned to see a boy standing there. He looked kind of familiar.

"Woah.. what happened here?" The boy asked, looking around and gaping at the mess.

Oh, right, he was in her class. The class she had just run out of. "Look, tell sensei I'll come back to collect homework. I'm busy."

"Uh, right... okay." He said uncertainly before running out again.

Rikumi rolled her eyes and turned back to Gaara, kneeling behind him. "Gaara?"

"What?"

"Are you alright?"

"I'm fine."

Why had she even bothered asking? She shifted so she was sitting with her legs crossed in front of her. "I heard about what's happening."

No response.

"Kankuro is feeling really bad about it too."

Still, no response.

"Are you upset?"

"Why do you care?" he finally asked.

Rikumi took a few minutes to consider her answer. "I guess it's because… because… well, just because."

His head turned to eye Rikumi just as the sound of a car pulling in could be heard from outside. Within the next few seconds, the door flew wide open and a group of men and woman were standing there, looking around. Eventually, one of them pointed in Gaara and Rikumi's direction and the group headed over.

Rikumi stood to intercept them. "Hey! Who are you?!"

A man stepped forward, Rikumi gasped as she recognised Doctor Kinto. "Riku, wasn't it? We're here under order's of the Kazekage to restrain a dangerous student. Please just go back to your classes."

"But Gaara's fine! See? He just needed…" Rikumi trailed off, not sure how to finish the sentence. What was it he actually needed?

"Rikumi. Just go back to class."

She shot a glare at him, but it was useless. The cold realization came to her that there was nothing she could do…

Except…

Rikumi sent a sympathetic look at Gaara before bolting out the room. There was one thing she could do. One thing that might save Gaara.

She could find out how to fix this.

...

Rikumi did not pay attention in any of her classes, except science. She simply reviewed Neji's notes briefly after school. The next two weeks were filled with research. Research on the insanity. Past patients, symptoms, time spans, measures already taken. The details were so vague, it was difficult. It could be an imbalance of blood chemicals, a parasite on the brain, some kind of mutation, or possibly a combination. "Neji!" she called as she headed for the door. "I'm going out, if you touch my notes, I will kill you!"

"Goodbye to you too!"

Rikumi smirked and shook her head as she closed the door behind her. Next stop was the Institute for the Mentally Disturbed. She had barely made progress, but if she could get samples... perhaps even access to their labs, then they could teach her, she could learn! And maybe… just maybe… they would let her visit a patient.

As Rikumi approached the front desk, the admin looked up and a flash of recognition zipped through her eyes. "Ah, Miss Riku. What can I do for you?" she asked politely.

Rikumi took a deep breathe. "I want an internship."

Silence…

The administrator picked up the phone on the desk, pressed three, and began speaking into the phone. "Yes, hello… No, I.. shut up and listen! Come down here.. –no- just-" she sighed in exasperation. "Leave your confounded dustbowl and get up here!" she slammed the phone down on its stand again with a huff. Looking at Rikumi, the admin explained. "I apologize, but you see, someone has taken quite the interest in you."

Rikumi blinked in surprise. "Uh… me?"

"That's what she said," a completely new voice echoed out from the doorway.

Rikumi spun around to face a tall man, dressed in the oddest clothes she'd ever seen, with long, dark, un-brushed hair. His skin looked like it hadn't seen the light of day in years and his eyes looked just as dark, yet oddly sharp and intelligent. "Who are you?" Rikumi mumbled, feeling slightly intimidated by the man's dark demeanour.

The man chuckled low in his throat. "My name is Orochimaru. Come with me dear girl, we have much to talk about." His voice sounded slimy and odd, and Rikumi did not feel safe going with him. But, he was obviously a doctor here… and the other doctor's would know, so she supposed it was alright…

Rikumi followed the man into the elevator. "Um. My name is Rikumi," she introduced. If this guy was going to try anything, she was prepared for it. She had her training up her sleeve.

"Yes, yes, I know. I've been watching you, girl. You and your friend, the Hyuga, ever since you arrived. It intrigues me how much of an interest you've taken in this field, and I think you could be a useful, if not too valuable apprentice in this matter."

"Apprentice?!" Rikumi exclaimed. "But I'm only here for a little while. And I only have a month left. I haven't any experience or-"

"Do you want to help your friend or not?" Orochimaru hissed. "I have expectations, and I expect you to keep them. Now!" He slipped out the elevator the second the doors opened. "Keep up!"

Rikumi glared at him, but hurried along behind him anyway. She had to resort to an awkward combination of walking and jogging to match Orochimaru's long stride. She almost walked straight past him when he stopped suddenly at one of the doors. Rikumi felt uncomfortable, the place smelt like cleaning products and burnt rubber, everything was incredibly white, but worst of all, from all directions around her, Rikumi could hear the patients screaming, yelling, ranting and, from some of the nearer cells, trying to talk to her. She shifted on her feet, feeling small and surrounded.

Orochimaru pressed a number into the pad by the door and the sound of a lock clicking open echoed down the hall. He stood aside and stretched out one arm in a gesture for her to enter. Rikumi cautiously poked her head inside. It was a small room, the walls painted white (big whoop), the floor carpeted and the lights out.

"Light switch is on the left. I'll be back in about fifteen minutes. If you need help... well… try screaming." Orochimaru said and shoved Rikumi in the back.

She gasped and staggered forward. "Hey!" She called and spun around just in time to see Orochimaru's smirk as the door closed and the lock clicked into place. "H-hey! What are you…" she gulped and felt along the wall for a light switch. Eventually, she found one, a little knub protruding from the wall, and flicked it up, blinding lights blinking into existence. Rikumi covered her mouth to muffle a small squeal of shock as she beheld the room. The walls were torn and tattered with claw marks, the carpeted floor stained with red, and sitting on a bed in the far corner, watching her with a predators gaze, was a red-headed boy.

It had only been two weeks, and it was obvious how hard those weeks had been on him. His hair was tussled, rumpled and matted, the shadows that had always appeared under those blue eyes were know dark rings of desperation and fatigue, his skin was even paler than usual, and he had lost too much weight to be healthy, he looked drained of energy and it was horrible. Rikumi could barely recognise him, but it was indeed the one she knew as Gaara. "G-gaara…" she stuttered, horrified. "What happened to you?"

Gaara was shivering, as if he was cold, but the temperature in the room felt entirely normal, if not a little warm. His eyes were downcast, like he was forcing himself not to look at the girl standing before him. "I won't do what they say. They can't make me do anything. I am in charge of me, and it's not like they care, right?" He gave of a sad chuckle. "After all, why should they care? They're all so loud. So many voices, too many. They should all just die. I should just kill them. Because, after all, if I don't, who will?" He lifted his gaze to meet her eyes. "Would you? Would you kill them? All of them?"

Rikumi sub-consciously backed up against the wall. "Gaara? Do you know who I am?"

"Of course I do!" he growled. "Do you think I'm an idiot? You're the girl from the sand pit…"

Sand pit? Okay... that was new…

"Wait… no, that wasn't you, was it?" Gaara stared at her closely, but his eyes were distant. "Or were you the daughter of the knife?" He let out a strained groan and gripped at his head. "I can't… remember… who are you?!" Gaara was yelling now, getting angry, and scared.

Rikumi was terrified.

"Who are you?!" he screamed at her. "What do you want from me?! Are you one of them?! You won't get close to me! I won't let you!"

"Calm down, Gaara… I'm your friend," Rikumi tried to explain and it was all she could do to stop her voice from shaking.

"Friend?" Gaara asked, seemingly confused. "Don't be stupid, I don't have _friends_."

Rikumi swallowed past the lump of fear in her throat and quickly calmed her raging nerves. She began to slowly approach him, wanting to get a better look. "Gaara? It's alright, I'm not going to touch you. I just want to look…"

"No!" He screamed. "Stay away!" He struggled back on the bed, and Rikumi caught a glance at his arms. Deep cuts stretched up them and dried blood clotted the surface.

She gasped. "Gaara… what happened?"

His breath was stretched and high pitched noises came from his throat every time he inhaled. He was panicking.

Just then, the door to the room clicked and slid open, revealing Orochimaru.

Gaara's head pricked up and he stared straight at Orochimaru, as if he were a bomb. Orochimaru gave Rikumi a silent nod. She nodded back and returned her focus to Gaara, slowly beginning to back out of the room. "I'm sorry, Gaara. I'll be back. I promise," she swore as she made the final step out of the room.

The second she was out, Orochimaru slammed the door shut. "Well, that was quite interesting now, wasn't it?"

Rikumi sighed. "You were watching, weren't you?"

Orochimaru nodded. "Of course, why wouldn't I be?"

She huffed. This was going to be an… _interesting _internship.


	8. Chapter 8

Three days. That's all it took for Rikumi to begin getting sick of Orochimaru. He often made no sense, and at times, Rikumi wondered if he suffered from the insanity. That would indeed be ironic. As it turns out, the scars on Gaara's arms were due to him struggling so much when needles were involved, as well as contact with other patients, and his own blind rage. Most days, he refused to eat, but occasionally he might take a bite here or there, depending on how hungry he was.

The patient next to Gaara was a girl by the name of Kuitari. She displayed simular symptoms, except for when needles were involved. Whenever the girl laid her eyes on a needle, she grew stock still, barely even turning her head to watch as the nurses took blood samples and dosed her with medicine. Rikumi had been working with these factors as Orochimaru, rather unpatiently, showed her how to use the equipment in his lab.

Well… Lab probably was not the right term. Clutter of books and outdated machines was more like it. Orochimaru had the basement of the building to himself, and he had used every single inch of it. Rikumi tried to find some kind of order, maybe a pattern to the clutter, but it was hopeless.

Kind of like Orochimaru himself. He somehow expected her to keep up with everything he did and said, as if she had been trained her whole life. It was confusing and disorientating, and Rikumi felt like she was getting more and more confused, and making less and less progress. Finally she slammed a book down on a nearby table, shutting Orochimaru off mid-rant.

He looked at her curiously, and before he could say anything, she spoke loud and clear. "Alright. We clearly aren't getting anywhere like this. As much as I hate to say it, I'm not as smart as you! I'm only a high-school student! I appreciate your teachings and time, I really do, but if you could just spend less time on me and more time trying to find a cure, I'm sure we could work a lot faster!"

Orochimaru was watching her with a cold, angry stare. "Watch your mouth, girl," he hissed, "That is no way to talk to me."

Rikumi took a deep breathe, calming herself. She was getting more worked up about this than was logical. This man had sacrificed his time to teach her. "Alright... Alright. Might I make a compromise?"

Orochimaru inclined his head. "That's more like it. Yes you may, what are your terms?"

"Nothing much really. I will work with you here in the lab. We will share any information we uncover, but mostly we work separately. Oh, and I'll probably be wanting to ask questions," Rikumi added that last part as an afterthought.

Orochimaru nodded thoughtfully. "A fair deal. But I have one more term."

"What is it?" Rikumi asked, curious.

"You stay home on Mondays and Thursdays. Those are my days off."

Rikumi nodded and smiled. "Okay then! You have a deal!" She extended her hand and he shook it, sealing the compromise. Rikumi was a little surprised at the grin forming on his face, but then, hey, he was a weird guy. So she just shook it off and got back to work.

...

Later that day, Rikumi was inspecting the videos recorded from the cameras positioned in each of the rooms. There were so many of them, but she was only focused on a select few at a time. Some violent movement caught her eye on another screen. She blinked. That was Gaara's room…

About five nurses were in there, wrestling with him. She grabbed her notebook and flicked through the pages. Orochimaru had not told her about anything major with Gaara lately… and he always told her. Something was wrong. Rikumi dropped her notebool and pounded out the door, racing down the halls. She skidded around a corner and leaped up the stairs, jumping the railing as she shoved through a door. She could see the nurses dragging the struggling Gaara out into the hall.

"Hey!" She yelled. "What's going on?!"

Gaara looked over at her, eyes wide. "Get away from me! Let me go!" He screamed and yanked one arm free, shoving the nurse off his other arm. "Get off me!"

"Gaara! Stop! It's alright!" Rikumi said as she helped a nurse to her feet. "What's going on?" She asked her.

"He's going into therapy. Now go back to the dustbowl, kid. You're going to get hurt," the nurse snapped at her as she tried restraining Gaara again.

"But-" She started to protest, but stopped as she felt a cold hand on her shoulder. Her head snapped around to see… Orochimaru?

"Come on, child. You can watch from the lab. Forgive me for not informing you, but you see," he smiled, "Your compromise didn't mention such terms."

Rikumi shot him a cold glare. "That's cruel…"

Orochimaru shrugged innocently. "No. It's really not, my dear. Come now, if you wish, you can view the therapy from the lab."

Rikumi frowned and looked over at the continuing struggle, "What kind of therapy?"

"A therapy that will post-pone his self-harming tendancies. Come now, let's go." He grabbed her arm and began dragging her away. Rikumi went along with it reluctantly. Something worried her. If this therapy was going to help Gaara, then why had they waited until now to perform it? It simply did not make sense.

Back at the lab, Rikumi realized why. This wasn't just any kind of therapy… it was shock therapy.

...

Rikumi covered her mouth and had to look away from the monitor. There was a reason that this kind of thing was illegal in Konoha, and now she fully understood why.

The patient had to be awake for the whole thing, they were strapped to a table, and electrical-powered cables were pressed against either side of their heads, giving them an electric shock that often ended in screams of agony. This was repeated, over and over again, with respites of only about five minutes, until the patient was docile enough to lay still.

It couldn't have taken more than maybe fifteen or twenty minutes, but to Rikumi, it felt like an eternity. And surely it would have felt far longer to Gaara. The nurses transferred the nearly passed out Gaara onto a stretcher and began wheeling him back through to his room. Rikumi watched nervously as they gently shifted him to the bed and left, locking the door. The second they were out, she was at the door to the lab and about to leave.

But a firm hand on her arm stopped her. She looked back at Orochimaru, "Hey! What's the big idea?!"

"That may not be wise, child. That therapy has two effects, both on extreme sides of the scale. Most patients, it calms for a period of time and returns them to temporary sanity. But some… some it's just the opposite. They have _killed_," Orochmiaru explained.

Rikumi froze. "But…." _He's all alone in there, _she thought. A small voice in the back of her head kept saying _it's a bad idea, you could die. You know what he's capable of. _But she shoved that voice away. Alright, she would see how he reacted, then decide whether to see him or not. She would have to be careful.

...

Gaara had never been so confused. So angry. So _scared. _They had taken him and strapped him down with leather and metal. Bright lights blocked his vision of everything, blinding him. He was bound and unable to move, to resist, to do anything. Then the pain came. Oh, so much pain. It tore through his skull like a burning blade, it ran through his veins like acid. Time became meaningless, as if he were stuck in an endless eternity. Solidity disappeared. All he could sense was that vivid, solid _Pain_. He was vaguely aware of himself blindly struggling and screaming. But it hurt, it hurt so much.

When the pain finally faded, he was left in a dark, faded, numb place. He could not feel, nothing he saw mattered. Sounds were meaningless. But now, the memory of the pain remained. He knew he was alone, that no-one was coming. No-one was going to help him. He had degraded to a caged animal, full of blind rage, and the pain would just keep coming, in one way or another.

...

Rikumi watched the screen intently. Gaara was just laying on his bed, staring at the ceiling. The only movement was the rise and fall of his chest, and the occasional blink. It had been two hours since the therapy, and Rikumi was getting really worried. Well, he didn't seem to be violent at least, so… maybe she should visit? She took a deep breath. Alright. She would go see him.

It took about five minutes to reach his room, and when Rikumi opened the door, Gaara did not even twitch. "Gaara?" Rikumi whispered. "Gaara? Are you alright?"

No response.

Rikumi reached back and closed the door behind her, walking to the side of the bed. He did not even look at her, just kept his gaze steadily on the ceiling. "Gaara? Please answer me…"

"Go away."

Rikumi was surprised. It had been a while since he had asked her to leave during her visits. "Um… I saw what happened, how are you feeling?"

"What are you trying to do?" He asked. "What is the point of this? The pain… why? Why was it necessary?"

Rikumi felt a pang of guilt stab her in the chest. "Well… it helped you, didn't it? You're going to be okay for a little while longer…"

Silence.

It was breaking her heart. Gaara just seemed… broken. Broken and alone. And what could she do? Sure, the therapy had brought him back to sanity, but in the process, it had left him like this… Perhaps, until they found a cure, insanity was actually a relief. It's your own version of a world where everything is seen through your minds eye. Not this. This cold, hard, unforgiving reality; here the truth of the situation stabbed you in the back like a serrated blade. Rikumi lowered her gaze. "Gaara… just… just know that I'm trying really hard to fix this. To fix you. You and everyone else."

The silence that followed was long and brittle. But, finally, Gaara spoke. "There's somebody I want to see."

Rikumi cocked her head, looking up at him. "What?"

He sighed. "While I'm still thinking straight, there's someone else in this building that I want to see." He looked up at her. "However, I don't know where he is or how to get to him. Can you find him?"

Rikumi frowned. "That depends… who?"

"My uncle," Gaara said. "Yashamaru."


End file.
